Golf cleat cleaner



NOV. 17, F. P. FULTON GOLF CLEAT CLEANER Filed July 14, 1958 United States Patent O Y to Gadget-Of-The-Month Club, Inc.,- Los Angeles,

Calif., a corporation of California I Application July 14, 1958, Serial No. 748,386 5 Claims. (Cl. 15-105) Generally speaking, the present invention relates to a cleat cleaner attachment adapted for removable engagement with a portion of a longitudinal shaft to provide a long-handled cleat cleaner for cleaning the cleats of a pair of athletic'shoes having cleats on the bottom thereof to provide sure-footedness. More particularly, one preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a golf shoe cleat cleaner attachment adapted for removable engagement with a portion of a golf club shaft remote from the handle end thereof to effectively provide a long-handled golf shoe cleat cleaner which maybe easily used for cleaning the cleats on the bottom surface of a pair of golf shoes when desired.

With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel cleat cleaner attachment including curved controllably engageable and disengageable hook means extending therefrom and adapted for controllable tight engagement around a portion of a longitudinal shaft whereby to effectively mount said cleat cleaner attachment at a desired location on said longitudinal shaft to provide a long-handled cleat cleaner adapted for cleaning the cleats of a pair of shoes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cleat cleaner attachment of the type set forth in the preceding object, wherein the cleat cleaning operation is effected by means of a plurality of cleat cleaning fingers projecting from said device and away from said longitudinal shaft to which the device is controllably removably attached.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cleat cleaner attachment of the type set forth in thepreceding object, wherein manually operable lever means is provided for effectively causing said curved shaft-engageable hook means to tightly frictionally engage the longitudinal shaft or to release same; said'manually operable lever means including a first lever portion comprising a handle, a fulcrum portion engageable with said longitudinal shaft, and a second lever portion transversely pivotally connected to a longitudinal body portion of said cleat cleaner attachment and adapted to be forced away from said longitudinal shaft, upon manual 2,912,707 :Patented Nov. 17, 1959 Ice provide a long-handled cleat cleaner and, in one preferred form, a long-handled golf shoe cleat cleaner.

Other and allied objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a careful study of the accompanying illustrations, the present specification, and the appended claims. g

To facilitate understanding, reference will be made to the 'hereinbelow-described drawing, in which: u

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of one illustrative-embodiment of the present invention in mounted operative position on a portion of a golf club shaft remote from the handle end thereof and adjacent the head end thereof for use in cleaning the cleats of the adjacent golf shoe;

Fig. 2 is a larger scale perspective view of the cleat cleaner attachment illustrated in Fig. 1 and showndisengaged from the longitudinal golf club shaft of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows 3-3 in Fig. 2 with all portions of the device behind the plane of the section removed for reasons of drawing simplicity;

Fig. 4'is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows 4-4 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view generally similar to Fig. 2, but shows the cleat cleaner attachment after the shaftengageable hook means have been placed in a preengagement position with respect to a portion of a longitudinal shaft, such as the golf club shaft shown in Fig. l, and before 'the manually operable lever means'has been actuated into locking position; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but shows the device after the manually operable lever means has been actuated into locking position whereby the entire cleat cleaner attachment is rigidly locked on the portion of the longitudinal shaft in a mannersimilar to that illustrated in Fig. 1.

The cleat cleaner attachment of the present invention includes a body portion provided with a plurality of cleat cleaning fingers projecting therefrom. In the specific example illustrated, said body portion comprises a longitudinal body portion indicated at 10, and the cleat cleaning fingers, indicated at 11, project from one end 12 of the longitudinal body 10 and have effectively 'curved prong ends 13 projecting in a first 'direction' substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal body 10. It will be noted that, in the specific ex ample illustrated, this construction is provided by having rear ends 13R of each of the metallic wire cleat cleaning fingers 11 embedded in the interior of the molded plastic body 10 whereby the cleat cleaning fingers '11 are held in the positions shown in the figures. However," this construction is merely illustrative of one preferred emoperation of said handle of said lever means, into a position such as to cause said hook means to tightly frictionally engage said longitudinal shaft, and with said second portion of said lever means in an overcenter position with respect to said fulcrum portion thereof,

It is a further object of the, present invention toprovide a cleat cleaner attachment of the type set forth in the preceding object, wherein said longitudinal shaft comprisesa golf club shaft and wherein the portion thereof engagedby said cleat cleaner attachment is remote from the handle end of said golf club shaft and adjacent the head'end thereof.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cleat cleaner attachment ofthe type set forth longitudinal shaft and/or golf club shaft whereby to bodiment of the invention, and is not intended to limit the type of construction of the body portion, the cleat cleaning fingers, and the fastening of said fingers with respect to said body portion, all of which may take a variety of different forms.

The body of the cleat cleaner attachment of the present invention is provided with curved shaft-engageable hook means extending therefrom and adaptedfor partially encompassing engagement around a portion of a longitudinal shaft, with said body being positioned closely adjacent to said shaft at one side thereof. In the specific example illustrated, said curved shaft-engageable hook means are two in number, as indicated at 14, and are mounted at opposite ends 12 and 15' of the longitudinal body, or body portion'10, by means of a tightly'encircling metallic loop 16 carried by the circular periphery of'each end of the m'olded plastic longitudinal body 10, with each of said hookmeans 14 having a curved portion 17 extending similarly transversely from the longitudinal body portion 10 in a second direction substantially opposite to the above-mentioned first direction, which is the transverse first direction in which said prong ends 13 of said cleat cleaning fingers 11 extend. It should also be noted that, in the specific example illustrated, each of the curved transversely extended portions 17 of the hook means 14 are oppositely curved in a manner whereby they may be easily moved into engagement with a portion of a longitudinal shaft, such as that indicated at 18, by positioning each of the curved portions 17 adjacent said longitudinal shaft portion 18 with the longitudinal body 10 slightly out of parallelism with the longitudinal shaft portion 18, in the position shown in Fig. 5. whereupon the longitudinal body 10 may be moved into parallelism with the longitudinal shaft portion 18, which will cause the two curved portions 17 of the hook means 14 to be placed in the proper position, such as shown in Fig. 6, on the longitudinal shaft portion 18, after which the fastening operation may be accomplished by the movement of the manually operable lever means, indicated generally at 19, from the disengaged or unlocked position shown in Fig. into the engaged or locked position, shown in Figs. 1 and 6, with respect to the longitudinal shaft portion 18.

The manually operable lever means, indicated generally at 19, includes a first lever portion 20, which comprises a handle, a fulcrum portion consisting of double fulcrum knees 21 positioned on each side of the center of the longitudinal body and formed of an extension of the wire comprising the handle 20, a second lever portion consisting of double wire members 22 positioned on each side of the center of the longitudinal body 10 and formed ofan extension of the wire comprising the handle 20 and the fulcrum portion 21. It should be noted that the second lever portion, consisting of the double wires 22 on each side of the body portion 10, is transversely pivotally connected to said body 10 by a transverse pin portion consisting of an integral interconnecting wire portion 23 extending through a transverse aperture 24 in the center of said body portion 10 and rotatably carried in a bearing sleeve 25 positioned in said aperture 24.

It should be noted that the fastening operation of the manually operable lever means 19 from the disengaged position shown in Fig. 5 into the engaged position shown in Figs. 1 and 6, is effected by moving the handle 20 from the position shown in Fig. 5 into the position shown in Fig. 6, which causes the fulcrum knee portions 21 to be moved into abutment with the longitudinal shaft portion 18, which has a diameter greater than the spacing of said fulcrum knee portions 21, which thus has the effect of forcing the entire longitudinal body 10 away from the longitudinal shaft portion 18 into the position shown in Fig. 6 wherein each of the curved portions 17 of the hook means 14 tightly frictionally engages the longitudinal shaft portion 18, thus controllably removably locking the cleat cleaner attachment on the longitudinal shaft portion 18 of the golf club at a position remote from the handle end 26 thereof and relatively near the head end 27 thereof, whereby it can be conveniently used to clean the spaces between the cleats 28 carried by the bottom surface of the golf shoe indicated generally at 29 for the removal of any material which might adhere between or to the cleats 28 or to the bottom surface of the golf shoe 29. After completion of such a cleat cleaning operation, the handle 20 can be moved from the position shown in Fig. 6 into the position shown in Fig. 5, which will allow the entire cleat cleaner attachment to be easily removed from the golf club and placed in a storage position, such as within a golf bag or the like (not shown), until the next period of use.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art after a careful study hereof. All such, properly within the basic spirit and scope of the present invention are intended to be included and comprehended herein as fully as if specifically described, illustrated and claimed herein.

The exact compositions, configurations, constructions, relative positionings, and cooperative relationships of the various component parts of the present invention are not critical, and can be modified substantially within the spirit of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A long-handled cleat cleaner, comprising: a longitudinal shaft; a longitudinal body portion provided with a plurality of cleat cleaning fingers projecting therefrom, said cleat cleaning fingers having prong ends projecting in a first direction substantially transverse thereto, said longitudinal body having at least two longitudinally spaced oppositely curved shaft-engageable hook means extending substantially transversely therefrom in a second direction substantially opposite to said first direction and adapted for partially encompassing engagement around a portion of said longitudinal shaft at longitudinally spaced locations with said longitudinal body being positioned substantially parallel and closely adjacent to said shaft at one side thereof; and manually operable lever means including a first lever portion comprising a handle, a fulcrum portion engageable with said longitudinal shaft, and a second lever portion extending from said fulcrum portion at an angle with respect to said handle and having a transverse pivot pin portion spaced from said fulcrum portion and extending transversely pivotally through said longitudinal body adjacent the center thereof and adapted to be forced away from said longitudinal shaft, upon manual operation of said handle of said lever means, into a position such as to cause said hook means to tightly frictionally engage said longitudinal shaft, and with said second portion of. said lever means in an overcenter position with respect to said fulcrum portion thereof, said fulcrum portion including two transversely spaced portions positioned on each side of said transverse pivot pin portion and each adapted to engage said longitudinal shaft.

2. A golf shoe cleat cleaner attachment adapted for removable engagement with a portion of a golf club shaft remote from the handle end thereof to effectively pro vide a long-handled golf shoe cleat cleaner, said attachment comprising: a longitudinal body portion provided with a plurality of cleat cleaning fingers projecting therefrom, said cleat cleaning fingers having prong ends projecting in a first direction substantially transverse thereto, said longitudinal body having at least two longitudinally spaced oppositely curved shaft-engageable hook means extending substantially transversely therefrom in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of said prong ends and adapted for partially encompassing engagement around a portion of a longitudinal shaft of a golf club remote from the handle end thereof at longitudinally spaced locations with said longitudinal body being positioned substantially parallel and closely adjacent to said shaft at one side thereof; and manually operable lever means including a first lever portion comprising a handle, a fulcrum portion engageable with said longitudinal shaft, and a second lever portion transversely pivotally connected to said body and adapted to be forced away from said longitudinal shaft, upon manual operation of said handle of said lever means, into a position such as to cause said hook means to tightly frictionally engage said longitudinal shaft, and with said second portion of said lever means in an overcenter position with respect to said fulcrum portion thereofv 3. A golf shoe cleat cleaner attachment adapted for removable engagement with a portion of a golf club shaft remote from the handle end thereof to effectively provide a long-handled golf shoe cleat cleaner, said attachment comprising: a longitudinal body portion provided with a plurality of cleat cleaning fingers projecting from one end thereof, said cleat cleaning fingers having prong ends projecting in a first direction substantially transverse there to, said longitudinal body having at least two longitudinally spaced oppositely curved shaft-engageable hook means extending substantially transversely therefrom in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of said prong ends and adapted for partially encompassing engagement around a portion of a longitudinal shaft of a golf club remote from the handle end thereof at longitudinally spaced locations with said longitudinal body being positioned substantially parallel and closely adjacent to said shaft at one side thereof; and manually operable lever means including a first lever portion comprising a handle, a fulcrum portion engageable with said longitudinal shaft, and a second lever portion having a trans verse pivot pin portion spaced from said fulcrum portion and extending transversely pivotally through said longitudinal body adjacent the center thereof and adapted to be forced away from said longitudinal shaft, upon manual operation of said handle of said lever means, intoa position such as to cause said hook means to tightly frictionally engage said longitudinal shaft, and With said second portion of said lever means in an overcenter position with respect to said fulcrum portion thereof.

4. A long-handled golf shoe cleat cleaner, comprising: a golf club having a longitudinal shaft provided with a head and a handle portion; a longitudinal body portion provided with a plurality of cleat cleaning fingers projecting therefrom, said cleat cleaning fingers having prong ends projecting in a first direction substantially transverse thereto, said longitudinal body having at least two longitudinally spaced oppositely curved shaft-engageable hook means extending substantially transversely therefrom in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of said prong ends and adapted for partially encompassing engagement around a portion of said longitudinal shaft of said golf club remote from said handle portion thereof at longitudinally spaced locations with said longitudinal body being positioned substantially parallel and closely adjacent to said shaft at one side thereof; and manually operable lever means including a first lever portion comprising a handle, a fulcrum portion engageable with said longitudinal shaft, and a second lever portion transversely pivotally connected to said body and adapted to be forced away from said longitudinal shaft, upon manual operation of said handle of said lever means, into a position such as to cause said hook means to tightly frictionally engage said longitudinal shaft, and with said second portion of said lever means in an overcenter position with respect to said fulcrum portion thereof.

5. A long-handled golf shoe cleat cleaner, comprising:

a golf club having a longitudinal shaft provided with a head and a handle portion; a longitudinal body portion provided with a plurality of cleat cleaning fingers projecting from one end thereof, said cleat cleaning fingers having prong ends projecting in a first direction substantially transverse thereto, said longitudinal body having at least two longitudinally spaced oppositely curved shaftengageable hook means extending substantially transversely therefrom in a direction substantially opposite I to the direction of said prong ends and adapted for partially encompassing engagement around a portion of said longitudinal shaft of said golf club remote from said handle portion thereof at longitudinally spaced locations with said longitudinal body being positioned substantially parallel and closely adjacent to said shaft at one side thereof; and manually operable lever means including a first lever portion comprising a handle, a fulcrurnportion engageable with said longitudinal shaft, and a second lever portion extending from said fulcrum portion at an angle with respect to said handle and having a transverse pivot pin portion spaced from said fulcrum portion and extending transversely pivotally through said longitudinal body adjacent the center thereof and adapted to be forced away from said longitudinal shaft, upon manual operation of said handle of said lever means, into a position such as to cause said hook means to tightly frictionally engage said longitudinal shaft, and with said second portion of said lever means in an overcenter position with'respect to said fulcrum portion thereof, said fulcrum portion including two transversely spaced portions positioned on each side of said transverse pivot pin portion and each adapted to engage said longitudinal shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 574,621 McCullough Jan. 5, 1897 577,503 Ash Feb. 23, 1897 2,130,072 Cesaris Sept. 13, 1938 2,529,012 Gleekman Nov. 7, 1950 2,739,331 Goodman Mar. 27, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 733,443 Great Britain July 13, 1955 

